Aluminum louver sunshade



y 15, 1952 R. E. SHAW I 2,602,971

ALUMINUM LOUVER SUNSHADE Filed Jan. 50, 1950 lNVENTOR F44 px/i file AW ATTORNEY Patented July 15, 1952 ALUMINUM LOUVER SUNSHADE Ralph E. Shaw, Portland, Oreg.

Application January 30, 1950, Serial No. 141,255

4 Claims.

This invention relates to an aluminum louvre sunshade.

The word aluminum is used advisedly as indicating the best possible material, but is not intended to exclude other light reflecting materials if the maker is content with less effectiveness.

The object of this invention is the softening of sun-glare, especially with respect to store fronts, shop fronts and the like, where its efiects are detrimental or uncomfortable.

A subsidiary object is to construct a sun glare softener that will not accumulate snow loads in winter or be susceptible to wind gusts and require a load bearing capacity of say 40 to 50 pounds per square foot, as building codes require of marquees.

A functional object is to soften glare to prevent bleaching of window displays, and to substantially lower the temperature on the sunny side of a building.

A further object is to eliminate the raw glare of a cement sidewalk that is directly hit by sunshine on hot days; and last, but by no means least, to furnish a glare shield that is capable of reducing inner room temperatures as much as ten degrees Fahrenheit, the room, such as a store, being fronted with glass display windows.

Other objects are hereinafter pointed out, particularly in the claims which conclude this disclosure.

A drawing accompanies and forms a part of the disclosure, showing a preferred form of construction, when erected over the outside of a show window.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1, in perspective, shows a fragment of a building wall, a portion of a window therein and a part of an aluminum louvre sunshade over the window, supported by the wall. Parts are broken away and the structure is foreshortened as will be explained;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the plane 22, Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the plane 3-3 of Fig. 2, the main structure upon which the section is taken having been foreshortened.

Describing the structures shown in the drawing and explaining them in greater detail.

Numeral l represents a fragment of a store front within which is mounted the customary plate glass window 2.

Suitably fastened, as by bolts 3, to the store front I, are a plurality of suitable brackets 4, which in turn serve as mountings for the same number of generally horizontally extending supthe jaws in all cases made-to conform, the louvre ing of the brackets 4, need not be the same, as.

ports 6, here shown as pipes, over which matching sleeves I, are slipped. Each of the sleeves I is formed with'angularly extending jaw portions 8 and 8', as to those sleeves used in median position which have both the jaws 8 and 8', and the sleeves I and 1 which have a single jaw, but at opposite ends of the sleeve.

The jaws of whatever designation are so formed that they match together and complete a louvre blade clamp as indicated by the numeral 9 in Fig. 2. The screw pressure required is supplied by turning up the threaded cap ID that screws onto the end of the pipe 6. Each clamp 9 grips a louvre blade I l and since, in the illustrated form,

the edges of the blades II have been bent to a suitable angle, in this case about 22% degrees, and

blades l I, need no drilling of holes and the spacthey are not spaced on the longitudinal line to match holes in the louvre blades as would be needful with pre-drilled holes.

It is to be understood that this mounting is merely the best one I have been able, so' far, to devise, but is notof the essence of the invention, considered alone.

Coming now to a description of the louvre blades, which, as described, are bent at an angle along their upper edges for the purpose of constructing an excellent form for the clamping means shown and are also bent at the same angle along their bottom edges. This latter was done for appearance sake, as it was thought to promote a more pleasing appearance. Whether or not it has a measurably better effect in dispersing and softening sun glare is a diflicult thing to deter-- mine. It is thought that it has but this is not certain. Also placing the blades ll, dependent from the pipes 6, is another thing that was'done to promote pleasing appearance. The blades, apparently, do just as good work when laid above the pipes 6, which can be done at will with the same fittings as described.

For the best structure that extensive try-outs have so far produced, the louvre blades here shown are dependent from their mountings at something like 40 degrees and may, depending on latitudes, be dependent as much as 55 degrees or more. It is to be noted that when the sun rises to an apparent point where bright sunlight strikes the louvre blades H, at a downward angle, either directly or slantingly in any latitude excepting zero at meridian, the light will be reflected from the point where it strikes, on one blade, to the underside of the next blade spaced from the one where it strikes and be reflected again, to pass downwardly between the louvres towards the window or a sidewalk, which has been omitted for lack of space; and the plural reflections which the light must undergo disperses its energy and softens the glare to a point where it is effectually eliminated.

It is easily seen that the louvre blades ll may be made wider, in which case they can be spaced further apart than shown, relatively; theangles may be changed with different widths of louvre blades, and many variations may be chosen, or they may be made adjustable; but the invention will nevertheless remain the same.

An unexpected function was discovered when immediately preceding summer. aluminum blades almost immediately get so hot when the sun is bright that we find a thermal unit created. Air from below passes up through between the blades, and absorbs the heat, thus promoting a change of atmosphere in front of the window and above the sidewalk.

As indicated, the spacing apart of the louvre blades will vary with their width, the main function being to intercept the direct rays of the sun and overcome their inherent glare by a plural reflection of the greater part of the rays intercepted.

-As will be noted at a glance, snow will not accumulate on the louvre blades in sufiicient quantity to constitute a menacing overload, especially if the lower edge of the blades are planar; nor will-gusts of wind find a gripping point to endanger them, if reasonably well mounted.

1 Having fully disclosedmy inventionso that its value can be seen and made useful by the building construction art, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A light dispersing sunshade for. mounting above a window, or the like, comprising a plurality of horizontal tubular louv-re supports, louvre clamps comprising tubular sleeve members toslip over said first named tubular supports, dependent clamp jaws onadjacentlouvre holding ends of said sleeve members that are adapted to hold light dispersing louvres at a light intercepting angle of the order of forty to fifty-five degrees below horizontal, bright aluminum louvres clamped in dependent angular position between the sleeves, the said louvres being of a width that is at least as great as the spacing distance between the said louvres and screw clamping means for gripping the jaws to said louvres.

2. An aluminum louvre light reflecting and glare dispersing sunshade, comprising a plurality of rigid horizontal tubular supports, clamping sleeves, as claimed in claim 1, in which the louvre blades are bent at an angle, with the said clamp jaws formed to match the bent edge of said louvre blades.

3. A bright metal glare dispersing window shade comprising a plurality of horizontally projecting tubular shade supports in the form of an awning support above a Window or the like, said supports in horizontal spaced position, a plurality of louvre blade gripping jaw sleeve members having tubular portions that slidingly fit over said shade supports, there being at least one-half part of a louvre clamp on each sleeve, said clamps adapted to securely hold a louvre blade when screw pressed endwise thereagainst, screw cap means on each of said supports that bear against the total assembly of blade gripping jaws, the said jaws formed to hold dependent louvre blades therebetween at a light intercepting and reflecting angle 'of the order of forty to fifty-five degrees below horizontal, aluminum louvre blades securely held between the parts of said clamps and being of such width and such horizontal spacing apart that sun rays will be reflected from the top surface of any given louvre blade against the under side of another blade.

4. A glare dispersing awning like structure for protecting merchandise displays against direct sun. glare, comprising a plurality of horizontal support members projecting outwardly above a display window or the like, slidable tubular clamp members mounted on said supports, louvre clamp jaws made unitary with said slidable clamp members, there being a mating jaw part on each of two clamps forming a pair of jaws, aluminum suiirefiecting louvre blades securely held in dependent angular spaced position beneath each pair of clamp members, a dependent aluminum angularly supported louvre blade held between each pair of jaws, each of said blades being of such width, held at such angle and being so spaced from its next nearest companion blade, that sun rays striking any blade directly on an upper surface will be reflected to be intercepted by the under side of the next adjacent blade, before passing through the said awning by a second reflection.

RALPH E. SHAW.

4 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the tile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 168,257 Inghels Sept. 28, 1875 208,692 Pohl Oct. 8, 1878 1,775,383 Auble Sept. 9, 1930 1,941,308 Indahl Dec. 26, 1933 2,015,342 Indahl Sept. 24, 1935 2,083,681 Baldwin June 15, 1937 2,155,985 Waterman Apr. 25, 1939 2,332,339 Pratt Oct, 19, 1943 

